mcelroy



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. F. MGELROY. ELECTRIC HEATER.

N0.'598,688. Patented Feb. 8,1898.

WEE-555% {o} leg/Enfin;

. E330/WW m W- 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2.

Patented Feb. 8, 1898.

J. F. MGELROY.

ELECTRIC HEATER. y

(No Model.)

WYE/1555125; En/Enl'm jmm Egg lUNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

JAMES F. MCELROY, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE CONSOLI- DATED OAR-HEATING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC. HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,638, dated February 8, 1898. Application led March 24, 1894. Serial No. 504,944. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J Aims F. McELRoY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Albany, State of New York,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric I-Ieaters, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for heating by electricity; and the 1o object of my invention is to provide a heater particularly adapted for use in drying barrels, casks, dsc.. I accomplish this object by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying` drawings, in whichh Figure l is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan. Fig. 3 is an end elevation. Fig. i is a detail View of the end of the frame; and Fig. 5 is a section of a Cask, showing the heater placed therein.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In coopering establishments it is considered extremely dangerous to have a burning ire, because of the shavings and dried lumber which usually abound therein. The ordinary way of drying a barrel or a cask is to place a pan or a pail containing hot coals or iire within the same, and it is to avoid the danger of igniting the combustible material 3o in the shop and to provide a more efiicient source of heat that the invention herein described was made. As I propose to use electricity as the heating agent and as the persons who are to use the heater will be men 3 5 unskilled in the use of electrical apparatus, I have provided a heater which may be safely handled, preventing danger from being burned by a careful arrangement of the wires carrying the current, and which will perform 4o the results required of it regardless of the position in which it lies, whether on one side or the other or on either end.

Referring to the drawings, I arrange one or more spindles AA A2, (three bein g shown,)

constructed of non-conducting material, preferably porcelain, each provided with a groove a, extending spirally from one end to the other thereof, within which 0roove I place a resistance B, preferably in the form of a helix, and 5o mount the spindle or spindles within the frames C O. In the frame C, I preferably arrange a collar c, in which I iit tubes or pipes D DQ thus providing two pipes D D, extending from one end of the heater to the other in the lower portion of each side thereof. I usually employ three spindles and mount them in the frame at each end thereof by means of a bolt E, suitablyinsulated, extending, preferably, through the spindle, and where two spindles adjoin each other at the 6o end, as shown in Figs. l and 2, the bolt passes through them both. The bolt E is secured at each end in plates E E, said plates resting upon the chairs E2, (see Fig. 4,) thus arranged so that by the removal of the plates E' the spindles may be taken out ofthe heater. Between the ends of the spindles I arrange a suitable non-conducting plate F, preferably porcelain, which carries binding-posts 7e 71; and is perforated to admit of the passage of 7o the bolts E and placed at the junction'of adjacent spindles on the bolts A series of rods R extend from one end piece to the other, provided with nuts or other adjusting devices on the ends for the purpose of holding the parts of the heater securely together. The tubes or pipes D D are threaded at-one end only, the end which is unthreaded fitting into the collar c, they being so arranged for the purpose of providing for a rapid and sim- 8o ple method 0f setting up and taking apart the heater. Thus when the nuts are removed from the rods R the tubes or pipes may be withdrawn by pulling them out of the collar, the bolts E', carrying the spindles, removed, 8 5 and the heater is dismembered. For the purpose of transporting the heater conveniently I arrange at each end a handle or bail G.

I connect up the heater in the following manner: I-I represents the live wire, and h h 9o cut-outs. I'Vhen the currentis cut out at 7L, the cut-out 7L' being closed, the current passes into the wire J, which wire passes into and through he pipe D and connects with the bindingpost j at the opposite end of the heater. The binding-post j is connected to the coils on two of the spindles A and-A2, and those coils are placed in circuit. The return-wire K enters the pipe D and is connected by the wire 7a to the binding-posts 757,9', connected roo with each of the spindles. The binding-post j is also connected with the coil on each of the spindles A A2 and to the wire J, and electricity therefore enters from both ends of the spindles. Vhen the Wire J is cutout at h', the cut-out h being closed, the wire L carries the electricity through the pipe D' and is connected to the binding-post l, which is connected to the coil on the spindle A. The end of the coil on the spindle A opposite the contact-post l is in contact with the contactpost Z', which is connected with the wire L, and the coil is connected to the return-Wire K by the wire k. In this state of the cutouts the coil 011 the spindle A alone is in circuit. Thus I am enabled to shunt out one or two of the coils or use them all together, as desired.

The object in carrying the wires through the tubes or pipes D D' is to prevent shortcircuiting the coils. If they Were left exposed, there would be danger of the wire coming in contact withl the resistance on the spindles, and there is also the additional reason that if they were left uncovered they would be liable to burn the operator in handling the heater. Furthermore, if they Were not protected they might come in contact With the sides of the Cask or barrel when in use or with foreign substances when not in use, which would be liable to break the Wires. Thus by placing themwithin the pipe they are protected from injury to the Wire from short-circuiting, which would injure the apparatus, and from doing damage to the person using the heater.

By arranging the spindles in short Sections and connecting them up as indicated I can make my heater more economically, because of the short porcelains being` less expensive, and by thus uniting two or more spindles on one bolt I provide for placing the bindingposts between the ends of the heater. By this arrangement I provide for charging the heaters from the ends and having the terminals between the ends of the heater, thus making a Wide separation of the positive and negative wires, the object being to make this heater as simple as possible for the use of men unaccustomed to electrical devices. As thus arranged my heater is open on all sides and the ends, providing for the circulation of air around the heating-coils, regardless of the position in which the heater may be placed,

'the wiring and connecting up of the several coils of the heater is Within the pipes, andv the whole is so connected together that in case of accident or injury accruing to any of its parts it may be quickly taken apart and repairs made with little inconvenience or loss lof time or expense in operation.

JAMES F. McELRoY.

Vitnesses:

RALPH W. KIRKHAM, MARY AGNES BURKE. 

